Boulder will amend its 33-year-old "fighting words" ordinance after a judge on Wednesday upheld a 2013 ruling that found the city's law is overly broad and in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

City officials appealed a ruling last June by Judge Thomas Reed in which he dismissed a fighting words ticket against Boulder resident Camille Lafont after her attorney challenged the ordinance's constitutionality.

After hearing oral arguments in the case earlier this month, Boulder District Judge Bruce Langer wrote in a ruling issued Wednesday that the ordinance is "overly broad and unconstitutional on its face" because it did not require the offender to intend to cause the disorderly response.

"Under the heightened scrutiny afforded statutes implicating fundamental rights, both the 'intent' element and 'effect' element may be necessary to produce a statute which does not proscribe constitutionally protected speech," Langer wrote. "Like a suit worn with both belt and suspenders, a statute limited by both a specific intent element and an 'effect' element clause may comfortably be said to be narrowly tailored...

"The court agrees that the 'effect' clause in the municipal ordinance does not sufficiently limit the scope of speech being prohibited."

Boulder City Attorney Tom Carr said his office will prepare an amendment to the existing ordinance that will address the ruling.

"The city agrees with a longstanding interpretation by municipal court judges that this ordinance is appropriate in cases where the defendant had a clear intent to harass or annoy the victim," Carr said in a written statement. "While the judge today found that the ordinance, as currently written, is overly broad, the city believes additional language can make this explicit and strike a more appropriate balance with our community's values related to free speech."

Lafont said she was "pleased" with Langer's ruling.

"This ruling confirms that the First Amendment is alive and well again in Boulder and that our judicial system will not tolerate censorship-orientated legislation utilized by our local government for the purpose of selective prosecution," Lafont said in a written statement. "Once again, it promotes my confidence in the judiciary as the most vital guardian of our First Amendment privilege."

Reed, a retired Boulder County court judge at the time of the ruling was filling in for Municipal Judge Linda Cooke. Cooke also ruled that the city had to provide criminal histories for witnesses in fighting words cases.

That decision also was appealed by the city, and Langer ruled that, in that case, Cooke did abuse her discretion, and overturned the ruling.

In his statement, Carr said the ruling about the witnesses' backgrounds was the "principal decision" in the case and said it was an "important victory" for the city of Boulder.

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